The present invention relates to an image monitor system console to be installed in an image monitor room as one work station in, for example, a medical image treating system particularly in which a plurality of monitor units are arranged in vertical stages for displaying medical images for visual monitoring or diagnosis of an operator.
Modernly, a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) has been developed in which medical images generated from various medical equipments are stored in the form of digital signals in an image database together with another basic information of, for example, a patient and then transmitted to general dispancy sections in the form of the digital signals. This distributes film-less operation. The term "medical image" used herein represents images or pictures of, for example, patients used for observation, diagnosis or other medical treatments.
FIG. 11 shows one example of a conventional system console 1 for this purpose which is installed in an image monitor room or section, for example, and this image monitor system console 1 is connected to the PACS through communication line. Medical images required are called from the database by operating a keyboard of the image monitor system console 1 and the called images are displayed on monitor units of the system console as picture images and the observation results can be inputted to the database as auxiliary information.
The conventional image monitor system console of FIG. 11 is provided with six monitor units (CRT display units) 1a to 1f which are arranged in vertically two stages each including three monitors, constituting a multi-image display structure accommodated in an outer frame 2. Namely, in the illustration, three monitors 1a, 1b and 1c are arranged in the lower stage monitor unit and three monitors 1d, 1e and 1f are arranged in the upper stage monitor unit, and these upper and lower stage monitor units are set with predetermined fixed inclined angles for the purpose of easily monitoring or observing by an operator who usually sits in front of the console system 1.
However, in the image monitor system console of the structure of FIG. 11, the inclinations of the image surfaces of the upper and lower stage monitor units with respect to an operator are fixed, and accordingly, an inconvenience has been caused in a case where different operators monitor or observe the images because different operators have different attitudes and positions and their eye positions are also different in height. This inconvenience may require the operators to observe the monitor surfaces with their uneasy positions or attitudes, resulting in increasing of fatigue and degraded image observing efficiency. Furthermore, when a plurality of persons observe together the same image on the monitor surface, their observing angles are different and, in an adverse case, observing eye points may be out of proper monitoring angle range, thus also providing a problem and being inconvenient for proper monitoring, observation diagnosis or judgement.